Amador City’s five-year sheriff contract will rely on COPS grant reserves

Amador City has entered into a new five-year public-safety services contract with the Amador County Sheriff’s Office, with the city planning to use California COPS grant revenue and existing grant reserves to pay part of the ongoing agreement.

The city’s FY2025-26 budget allocates $322,031 toward the contract. The arrangement connects the city’s police and dispatch services to a longer-term funding plan built partly around the California Supplemental Law Enforcement, or COPS, Grant Fund.

Grant revenue and reserves

Amador City has historically used COPS grant funds for police and dispatch services. For FY2025-26, the city expected to receive approximately $195,000 in COPS grant revenue, based on collections during FY2024-25.

The budget projected that the COPS Grant Fund would retain $242,619 as of June 30, 2026. Because the sheriff’s agreement covers five years, future annual grant allocations and the remaining reserve are expected to fund part of the service contract over the life of the agreement.

The budget discussion does not identify the contract’s total five-year value or provide an annual payment schedule. The $322,031 figure is the amount budgeted for the current fiscal year, not a stated total for the full term.

Other projected fund balances

The same budget discussion identified projected negative balances in two other city funds. The Community Transportation Study Fund was projected to have a balance of negative $104,130, while the FEMA Grant Fund was projected at negative $54,298.

Those figures are budget projections rather than final audited results. The COPS reserve figure is also a projection as of June 30, 2026, so the eventual year-end balance could differ from the amount shown in the budget.

Why the contract matters

The agreement gives Amador City a multiyear framework for police and dispatch services through the county sheriff’s office. It also means the city’s ability to support part of that service depends on continued COPS grant allocations and the use of reserves accumulated in the grant fund.

That funding approach places the contract alongside the city’s broader responsibility to manage grant-funded programs and projected shortfalls in other funds. The five-year term extends the budgeting issue beyond FY2025-26, making future grant revenue, reserve levels and annual appropriations relevant to maintaining the arrangement.